The Perfect Plan
by Kalcifier
Summary: Seeing Hinata with Despair Disease is sickening, all that potential muted. But Komaeda's a firm believer in hope's ability to overcome despair. All he needs to do is convince Hinata to kill him, and how hard can that be?


Before he even opens his eyes, Komaeda can tell that it's going to be an exciting day.

Part of it is Nekomaru's sacrifice of last night. Risking one's life to protect someone else is such a wonderful expression of hope, and he hopes that it will spread to the rest of the class as well. They've come so far already, maybe this will be the thing that allows them to rise to become the beacons of hope Komaeda knows they can be. And if not, well, there's still time for him to get himself killed. He doesn't imagine the loss of someone as pathetic as himself will compare to the despair of losing Nekomaru like this, but if he can bring them even a single step closer to their true potential, it will be the best possible use of his worthless life.

But he's getting ahead of himself. Being too eager will only annoy his classmates, and the last thing he needs is to make his presence even more draining than it already is. He just needs to focus on supporting them through the day however he can.

That decided, he hurries over to the hotel cafeteria. He wants to be there to see everyone's hope.

He's not actually the first to arrive, which is a little surprising. The kitchen is already occupied by Hinata, who has an unusual spring in his step. Perhaps he's finally realized how incredible this opportunity is. Then again, maybe he's just happy that it's been awhile since the last trial. It's a short-sighted sentiment, but so typical of Hinata. Komaeda wishes he could make him understand. Hinata of all people should realize the hope that will arise on this island will be is the culmination of everything Hope's Peak stands for.

But that's an argument for later. Right now, he doesn't want to ruin Hinata's good mood. He smiles instead and gives a cheerful, "Good morning."

Hinata turns around, and Komaeda would swear his eyes light up when he sees him, which can't be right. No one's excited to see Komaeda. Hinata doesn't give Komaeda a chance to wonder, though, because the first words out of his mouth are, "I remembered my talent!"

It's the best news they've gotten since Monokuma first showed up. "That's fantastic!" Komaeda says, barely able to contain his delight. "What is it?" A thousand possibilities flit through his mind. He discards them all out of hand. Someone like Hinata is bound to have an outstanding talent, one far better than anything someone like Komaeda could think of.

Hinata gestures to the pan he's still holding. "I'm the Ultimate Chef!" His eyelids lower flirtatiously. "Isn't this great news? I think we should celebrate, just you and me."

His words barely register. Komaeda's too busy dealing with the wave of rage that's just washed over him. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he asks. He's trying to stay calm, but really, how can anyone disrespect talent so blatantly? He feels betrayed. He'd thought Hinata was better than this. Even if he didn't care about Komaeda, which is understandable, he was supposed to care about hope.

Komaeda looks at him, begging for answers, but sees only confusion in his face. "What are you talking about? I don't need to joke about this," he says. "Here, let me prove it to you. Or, if you like, we could go back to my cottage and I could give you a private show..."

Komaeda takes a deep breath. Okay, so there's no way Hope's Peak would admit two Ultimate Chefs in one year, but then Hanamura had really just been the Ultimate Cook. Maybe Hinata was good enough to warrant giving out two all-but-identical titles. It's not totally impossible. Komaeda certainly isn't the only Ultimate Lucky Student. "How about we just start with whatever you're making right now."

"If you insist." Hinata shrugs, then bustles Komaeda out of the kitchen before he can see what he's been doing. Komaeda is left to stare at the dining room tables and wonder what's going on. Hinata seems perfectly sincere, but what he's saying makes no sense.

The mystery only deepens when Hinata walks out a minute later. He's carrying a plate, but all that's on it is a single slice of plain toast.

Komaeda takes a bite anyway, wondering if he's just missing something. It's very possible. It's not like he's known for his skill in, well, just about anything.

The toast provides no answers. The only thing remarkable about it is how unimpressive it is. If you asked Komaeda to imagine the most generic toast possible, the average of every slice of toast he'd ever eaten, it would be this toast. He's not racing to spit it out, at least, but that's mostly because it's not worth spending that much effort on this. It's far easier to just let it sit and dissolve, leaving absolutely no flavor behind.

Hinata is watching him expectantly. Komaeda just shakes his head. The joke's gone on long enough. "This really isn't funny," he says. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but all you're doing is making a mockery of the Hope's Peak name."

It's like a switch has been flipped. Hinata's expression goes from flirtatious to devastated in the blink of an eye. "Why would you — why would you be so mean?" He sniffles. "I just wanted to do something nice for you, Big Bro Komaeda! It's not like I'm that idiot Hanamura or anything, but I was really trying!" He starts to bawl, and Komaeda realizes that something is horribly wrong.

He's spared having to respond by someone else's arrival. He can't quite suppress a sigh of relief.

The relief turns out to be premature, as he realizes almost immediately. Kuzuryuu is wringing his hands as he walks. His gaze darts around the restaurant nervously. "Those stairs could really use a carpet," he mutters. "What if it rains? They'll get wet, and then someone could slip and fall."

Hinata doesn't respond, still crying, Kuzuryuu's eyes widen. "Oh no," he says. "You need to stop crying. Otherwise you could get dehydrated, which could make you faint and hit your head."

"No one asked you," Hinata says. The bite in his voice is undercut by the way he sniffles at the end.

"I'm just trying to keep you safe," Kuzuryuu replies. "I mean, we're already in a kitchen, and do you know how many dangerous that is? We need to do whatever we can to reduce our risks."

Komaeda tries to be as inconspicuous as possible, at least until he can figure out what's going on. He's perfectly content to let the two of them bicker. Neither of them even look up when Gundham walks in.

Gundham himself sees them arguing and turns straight to Komaeda. "What's their problem?" he asks. "I know everyone's stressed right now, but they don't need to take it out on each other."

Komaeda feels a chill creeping up his back. "I don't know," he says slowly.

"Yeah, that's fair." Gundham laughs dryly. "Still, it's good to see that someone else is acting normal, you know?"

Komaeda pushes his chair away from the table. Gundham dropping his usual act might as well be a sign of the apocalypse. He's ready to go back to his cottage and wait for things to blow over.

Before he can, the rest of the class thunders in. Komaeda braces himself for even more weirdness. Hinata, on the other hand, brightens. "Big Sis Nanami!" he bounces over to the girl in question. "You're not an ungrateful piece of shit or an obsessive loser. Do you want to try my breakfast?"

Nanami looks at him helplessly. Saionji, who'd been at the back of the pack, steps forward. She gives Hinata a look like he's about to grab a pair of scissors and attack Monokuma himself. "What's wrong with you?" she asks. "Calling everyone 'Big Sis' is only cute when I do it. You just look like a dumbass poser."

Hinata cringes, his arms flying up to protect his face. "I'm so sorry!" he says. "You're right, I don't know what I was thinking. Do whatever you want to me as punishment. I don't mind, really! I can always fix myself up again later. I may not be good for much, but I am still the Ultimate Nurse..."

"Oh no," Tsumiki says. Komaeda's inclined to agree. If Hinata's nursing skills are anything like his cooking, any attempt to practice his newfound "talent" will just create more work for Tsumiki. He really needs to learn that someone like him can't guess what was going on in the mind of an Ultimate, though, because what she actually says is, "Are you feeling okay, Hinata-san? You're looking a little flushed?"

"What are you talking about? Hajime feels right as rain!" Hinata flings his arms out wide, the tears of five seconds ago completely forgotten. The gesture hits Souda, who flinches, but not in time to keep Hinata from grabbing his arm. When did they get so close, anyway? "Come on, Kazuichi-chan, let's ditch this joint. I need you to check the speakers over at the club. I have a great idea for a new song, and I want the whole world to be able to hear it!"

Souda recoils. "Whoa, I think Tsumiki was right, Hinata. You're really hot!"

"Thank you, Kazuichi-chan!" Hinata chirps. Komaeda realizes he's clenching his jaw and hastily unclenches it.

"Wait, what? No!" Souda sputters incoherently. "I mean, you're burning up! You should really get some rest or something."

"Oh no, is he sick?" Kuzuryuu asks. He shakes his head. "That's terrible! You need to leave right now, Hinata, before you infect the rest of us."

"You both worry too much." Hajime puts his hands on his hips. "Hajime is perfectly healthy!"

Ibuki taps her index fingers together nervously. "As much as Ibuki would like to hear Hajime-chan's song, now might not be the time..."

Hajime looks like he's about to protest, but they're all silenced by the obnoxious sound of Monokuma's arrival. "What do you think?" he asks. "Isn't Hajime much more interesting like this?"

No one answers. "Is this why you wanted us all here?" Chiaki asks instead.

"Ding ding ding!" Monokuma says. "Things were getting boring around here, so I decided it was time for the next motive!"

"Boring? Old Man Nidai nearly died yesterday!" Akane looks ready to attack Monokuma all over again.

"Yesterday is old news. You need to learn to look towards the future!" Monokuma goes on to explain this new motive in detail. The sheer concept of infecting all these Ultimates with a Despair Disease is sickening, but Komaeda forces himself to keep listening. Each of Monokuma's motives so far has provided a new opportunity for hope, and this one is no different. He can already imagine the hope that will arise from overcoming this disease.

It is interesting that the disease manifests so differently in each of its sufferers. Kuzuryuu apparently has the Coddling Disease, and Tanaka the Normal Disease, which seems a bit of a contradiction in terms. At least neither of their symptoms interfere with their talents.

Once again, though, Hinata stands out from the group. Komaeda wonders yet again what sort of talent is hidden within him. Because according to Monokuma, Hinata's got the Talent Disease. He's copying everyone else's personality, and believes he has the talent to match. He doesn't, of course. There's no way for someone like Monokuma to artificially induce hope like that.

It's upsetting to see Hinata like this, devoid of the dazzling potential that normally shines out of him. Of course, that's the point. But Komaeda has faith in him, and in the ability of hope to triumph over despair, and so he forms a plan. Hinata's already proven that he can take the personality of failed Ultimates. If that's the case, he'll be much easier to goad into killing Komaeda. He just has to catch him at the right time.

Komaeda knows that there are flaws in his plan. There doesn't seem to be a way to predict when Hinata will start to emulate someone or who he'll choose. He's also unlikely to appreciate what he's done, once the disease is cured and he's back in his right mind. But he'll have to go along with the plan, if only for fear of death, and Komaeda knows that he'll come around eventually. Just think how glorious his hope will be, once he's overcome the despair of unwillingly slaughtering an entire class of Ultimates!

And if by some chance they should fail, Hinata is popular enough that his death will probably wring some hope out of their classmates instead. Either way, Komaeda would be happy to die for him.

He just has to make sure it goes perfectly.

He tunes back into the general conversation to hear plans being made to quarantine the infected students. He has to fight down a grin. It sounds like getting Hinata alone will be easier than he'd expected, and the disruption of everyone's routines will help him manufacture Hinata's alibi.

It's all going too well. They split up easily, leaving Souda and Tsumiki to care for the infected. Souda even engineers a system to allow them to communicate remotely. Komaeda's careful to be there for the first test, letting everyone see him where he's supposed to be. As soon as the call ends, he sneaks off to find Hinata.

He opens the door to the hospital as quietly as possible, but it turns out not to matter. Neither Tsumiki nor Souda are around to stop him. It's quite irresponsible of them. He would have expected better from the Ultimate Nurse. If just a little bit of despair is enough to throw her off her game, is she even worthy of the title? Not that he can complain too much. It lets him walk straight to Hinata's room.

Since he's not acting in his own interest, he doesn't even consider the effects of his luck until it's too late.

Hinata smiles when Komaeda walks in, something Komaeda still isn't used to. He reminds himself that it's just another side effect of the Disease. It's just another thing Hinata will be horrified to remember once he's in his right mind. Right now, though, Hinata looks so genuinely pleased at his presence that Komaeda can't help but smile back.

"You have a really nice smile," Hinata says abruptly. "I wish I could take a picture of it, but for some reason they won't let me have my camera."

Komaeda shakes his head sympathetically. It sounds like Hinata's mimicking Koizumi at the moment, which is interesting. It wouldn't have been his first choice, but at least Koizumi was fairly sensible, and her hope had been strong. Hinata will be easy to convince in this state.

It's also nice that he'll be spared the dissonance of seeing Hinata bouncing around again. Or even worse, flirting with him. He can't afford to get distracted here.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but congratulations on figuring things out," he says. He figures if he's vague enough, Hinata will get the message without Komaeda's having to defile the good name of talent. He'll violate his principles if he has to, because his own feelings mean nothing in the face of all the hope that's in store, but he'd still prefer not to. "I actually thought that, now that you know, you'd have a better sense of what hope really is."

Hinata nods, and Komaeda's about to lead into the next part of his speech when something in Hinata's eyes shifts. A light that had been there goes out, replaced by a strange emptiness. It's almost worse than seeing Hinata flinching from Saionji earlier. "Do I ever," Hinata says. "That's how I know how disappointed you must be. I mean, you waited for so long, only to find out that my talent is merely Ultimate Luck? What a waste. I can't believe I made you waste time on garbage like me."

Komaeda can't decide whether to laugh or scream. Of course nothing can ever be simple. Of course he's going to have to deal with the least useful of all the Ultimates: himself.

He tries not to think about how wrong it feels, hearing Hinata put himself down like that. He's just parroting Komaeda's own words, and in that context, they're perfectly deserved. He has to remember that Hinata doesn't really mean it. There's no point in trying to reassure him.

He realize he's been staring too long and hastily clears his throat. "Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about that. There's still a way for us to generate a lot of hope for the other students, even if we can't reach it ourselves." He feels like he's threading a needle. He knows what to say to convince himself, but saying it to Hinata is so much harder. He can't look into Hinata's eyes and tell him that he's worthless, even knowing that he's really telling it to himself. Komaeda doesn't want to die knowing that Hinata thought that Komaeda thought he was garbage.

He's overthinking this. He needs to focus on what's at stake. There's no time for him to be selfish, or whatever this weird feeling is. It doesn't matter.

When he pulls himself back to the present, Hinata is frowning, and Komaeda has to mentally review the last few seconds to be sure he hasn't missed anything. "It's a nice idea," Hinata says slowly. "The thought that someone like me could be a stepping stone for all of your hope is beautiful. But I wouldn't want to drag you down with me. I'm sure I'd just find a way to ruin your plans, or else my luck would do it for me. You'd be better off finding someone else."

"There's no way your luck would be enough to cancel out mine," Komaeda says without thinking. Once he realizes what he's done, he mentally slams his head into a wall. Now isn't the time to get argumentative, especially since Hinata believes he has Komaeda's own luck. Of course he'd brag about it. It's the only thing that's at all worthwhile about him right now. Komaeda takes a moment to mourn that someone as brilliant as Hinata is stuck with a personality like his.

Hinata frowns like he's trying to come up with an argument. His gaze seem to sharpen, and Komaeda can almost believe that he's going to make a characteristic snarky comment. Even seeing his plans crumble around him would be better than this.

Then Hinata's eyes empty again, and all he says is, "I guess you haven't spent enough time around me to realize yet, huh? Don't worry, you'll see soon enough." He gives a self-deprecating laugh.

Komaeda throws his hands in the air. This is clearly getting him nowhere. The circumstances are so perfect, though, and he can't resist making one last attempt. "Can you just trust me? I promise that together, we'll be able to create a hope stronger than anything they've ever seen."

Hinata looks at him, slightly starstruck. "I trust you," he says. "What do you have in mind?"

Komaeda beams. They're finally getting somewhere. "Thank you," he says.

He's just started to get his thoughts in order when he's cut off by a booming laugh. He looks up, startled, to see Hinata crossing his arms dramatically. "I don't know what you have planned, Locquacious One, but know that your pitiful machinations are nothing to the Supreme Overlord of Ice! I may not have my Dark Devas of Destruction with me, but even so, my powers are to be feared. Why would I place you in danger as well, knowing I could escape this island with naught but a snap of my fingers?"

Komaeda drags his hands down his face. Of course. Of course Hinata would take on someone else's personality just as he was starting to agree. He'd probably do it each time Komaeda tried, because there was no way he could manage to create the hope he was looking for. Komaeda would be stuck watching the people he so idolized bumble around until they finally found the truth.

Hinata is still laughing maniacally, no longer even paying attention to Komaeda, so he just walks away. He'll try again later, when Hinata will hopefully have calmed down a little, or at least decided to imitate someone like Peko instead. For now, he needs to get back to the motel before anyone notices his absence.

They find Souda's body the next morning. Hinata is one of the only people with an alibi. Komaeda goes off on his on as soon as the investigation starts, because it's the only way he'll keep from screaming.

At least Hinata's still alive, he carefully doesn't think. He can't afford to care this much about one person's life. All that matters is creating the greatest hope.

He keeps telling himself that throughout the trial, each time Hinata refuses to meet his eyes. It's a shame. He'd been so hoping that Hinata wouldn't remember anything from his illness, for both their sakes.

He can't blame him for being disgusted, though. No one should have to deal with Komaeda's mind but Komaeda himself.


End file.
